Page 37 of Oaths & Vengeance
“Sometimes we have no trouble, and other times we do. Stay alert.”
Before I could ask anything else, he rode away. The rest of his people followed him, except Koen, who pulled his sword and glowered through the darkness. I had the distinct impression he expected something dangerous to appear soon.
I hadn’t seen him before, but I imagined Darrow had many soldiers under his command if he spent most of his time fighting dark elves off thewest coast along the Strait of Bajjep. This elf was on the shorter side, near my height, and heavily muscled with a block-like head and plain features. He had short, dark hair and lightly tanned skin. His uniform was standard Veronnian, a mix of olive green and black that blended well with our surroundings.
For the first few minutes, I let my senses take in the environment and absorb the strange place. Nothing felt right. It was dark and mysterious, with many things crawling through the forest that rattled my senses. I had the horrible urge to run far away, but that wasn’t an option.
I needed to get a hold of myself because I wasn’t some scared little girl.
Through a break in the trees where moonlight filtered down, I caught sight of a familiar plant. It was a beautiful eventide rose, which was difficult to find in Zadrya. It only bloomed at night and grew along coastlines under specific conditions.
I had the worst time locating them during the day because they naturally blended into their surroundings. In the dark, however, they produced beautiful, yellow, bulb-shaped flowers. On Alavaar, they had incredible value because they helped with various dragon ailments. My sister grew a crop yearly, but few made it to maturity despite her best efforts.
The ones I saw here were perfect. I began pulling them, shocked to find so many everywhere. Koen watched me with obvious irritation but said nothing. Even my temporary Veronnian guard couldn’t find fault with picking flowers.
They were small, so I stuffed as many as possible into my pockets and kept moving to find more. They would need to be processed within two days or lose much of their vital properties. I’d need to sneak over to Alavaar tomorrow night to give them to my sister. The more I could bring her, the better.
It was difficult to stop when I kept spotting more, but after a while, I realized I had completely lost sight of Koen. Apparently, he couldn’t be bothered to keep a direct eye on me. I wouldn’t have minded if not for the stark gloominess of the island.
Telling myself I would only pick a few more, I was shocked when I came across another portal ring. I knew it wasn’t the same as the one we enteredbecause it was crafted with black metal, and some of the symbols were unlike the ones I knew well.
“What is this?” I breathed.
“You should stay away from that,” a male voice said.
I spun around, unable to find the source. “Where are you?”
He slowly stepped out of the dark woods. The first thing I noticed was his pointed ears were entirely black—the trait of a dark elf. Next, I took in his tall, muscular form. He was the same height as Darrow, but his shiny black hair was long and loose, going halfway down his chest. His dark, gray eyes looked at me piercingly.
“You may call me Bogdan,” he replied, cocking his head. “You’re Darrow’s new wife, are you not?”
I backed up a few steps warily. “How do you know that?”
A random dark elf on a mysterious, creepy island should not have that kind of information. I was more than a little disturbed.
“He sent me a message so I wouldn’t be startled by your presence tonight.” Bogdan began moving toward me, but when I stiffened, he stopped. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Why not?” I asked, drawing my brows in confusion.
“Darrow and I spent every winter together on Karganoth while growing up, and we share a grandfather,” he said, studying me. “I’m loyal to him and would never hurt his wife.”
I’d had no idea my husband ever visited the dark elf continent. Then again, his mother didn’t betray his father until after he’d reached adulthood. The peace deal likely included any offspring spending time with the other side of the family. Still, they were known for their cruelty and brutal ways of bringing up their children. How much of that had affected Darrow?
“If you know we’re married, then you must know it wasn’t for love,” I said, still tense.
Bogdan nodded. “It couldn’t have been, but I see you overcame the magical barriers on this island’s portal ring. He was right that you must be powerful.”
I hoped that meant he wouldn’t be so quick to attack me.
“What about that ring?” I asked, gesturing toward the strange one standing twenty feet from us.
He shook his head. “You don’t want to get closer to it.”
“Why not?”
“It leads to Faelaria, where the Unseelie rule and other dangerous places that are not suitable for us,” he said, giving it an uneasy look.
While light and dark elves had little in common besides some physical characteristics, we could both agree that it had been tragic when we had to leave our original world. According to the historical accounts I’d been taught, there was a great war. Seelie fae were losing, and hundreds of thousands had died before we fled.
